Looking for Lovely Rita

Pals Owen Wilson and Wes Anderson re-unite in The Darjeeling Limited. Photo courtesy of Slate.

Wes Anderson, the director of cult classic Rushmore and 2001 hit The Royal Tenenbaums, is headed to the subcontinent. He will direct Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody and Jason Schwartzman as three brothers who journey through India in The Darjeeling Limited. Production Weekly reports that filming begins in December.

Meanwhile, casting director Cindy Tolan is scouring the South Asian community for a young woman to play Rita, an “attractive, intelligent and articulate” stewardess on a train in India. This may be your chance to become the next Ash—no experience is necessary for the role. The actress-to-be should be in her mid-20s to mid-30s, speak English and preferably Hindi, as well. Email dlcasting@gmail.com with a letter and headshot to apply.

Welcome to the Nirali Weblog!

In October 2004, we interviewed the feisty M.I.A.–and it’s still the most-read story in our archive.

Welcome back, Nirali fans! When we launched Nirali Magazine in September 2004, we were just four South Asian American young women with a big idea. And what a welcome that idea received! Readers from all over the world wrote appreciating the magazine. Soon, our little labor of love exploded, and as more of you read Nirali, more of you wanted to get involved. Today, we’re proud to boast a much larger staff comprised of talented journalists, artists and businesspeople.

Because Nirali was (and still is) powered entirely by volunteers, it became difficult for the staffers to maintain while juggling our increasingly busy lives. But we are excited to announce that we will be back, better than ever, on September 1, 2006, with a brand new design and more fabulous stories to serve you. We’re undergoing some changes—changes that will make it easier for us to bring Nirali to you, and we’re looking forward to being around for a long time. We hope you’ll join us.

Of course, in the year that we’ve been on hiatus, the web has become an even more important part of our daily lives. We’re excited to bring you the Nirali weblog. Here, you’ll read late-breaking news, commentary on events of interest to our community, and perhaps even get a glance into the lives of some of the Nirali staff. We encourage you to share your thoughts with us in the comments, because this weblog is your space.

Thanks again for reading!